C-Desert Dog is dead, at 40-something years old. He leaves a wife and 3 (?) children.

Information is sparse at this time. What Lonely told me is that at a light sparring day C-Desert Dog, who always came fit and ready (his stick skill impressed me at the August '10 Gathering) sparred a few matches and, saying he wasn't feeling well, sat down. I am told that a) it was truly a light sparring day and b) he did not receive any head shots.

Regardless, shortly thereafter he began to have an elevated pulse and rapid, shallow breathing. His eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out. Immediate resuscitation measures were applied. EMTs were there in 5 minutes and tried reviviing him for two hours, to no avail.

This is all the info we have at present. C-Desert was a member of Cro Dog's clan in Germany. I have emailed Cro Dog for additional information. Lonely and I will be soliciting donations on behalf of the family.

Rest in peace, C-Desert Dog, you and your family are in my prayers tonight. My sincerest condolences to his family and the Euro tribes. I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but if he was was Candidate Dog Brother, I know I would have liked him.

"Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew." — Marcus Aurelius (Meditations)

Abu participated last weekend at the Sparring Meeting that is monthly hosted by Torben “c- Old Dog”. A very nice event to which many fighters from all over Germany participate. This S-Day was even a special one as it was the 50th Sparring Meeting of the Wolfpack.

The S-Day commenced very well, the participant were in good mood and the vibes were relaxed and happy.Abu was warming up with double stick, and hearing music through headsets. He was as always very motivated and elated to do as many fights as possible.

As usual the day started with Knife fights as warm up, Abu did the last Knife fight before switching over to stick fights. He did three single stick fights, his fights where very technical and with no hard contact, easy sparring just.

His last two fights where in a row, and his last fight ended up in clinch and ground. There was no hit to the head, no hard takedown, no hard impact at all. He got up and seemed fine, just a bit winded maybe.He went from the fighting area and sat down on the stairs, talking to his last sparring partner in a friendly manner, whilst the next fight continued. He comment that he feels a bit short-winded, and that two fights in a row might have been a little to much.

After that he was starting to hyperventilate. Torben talked to him and encourage him to breath calmly. View seconds later, his eyes rolled back - no pulse, no breath. One of the fighter that stood near by started immediately with the revival, he indeed acted very professional.

The emergency ambulance was instantly called, and they arrived just a view minutes later. The also started immediately with their revival. They did their work for almost 120 minutes before they declared him dead – It seems that he was dead just when his eyes rolled back.

Abu was part of the munich clan and so I met him the first time. That must be 4 or 5 years ago. Since then I saw him on different seminars I gave in Germany and Switzerland. He also fought regularly at our “Gathering of the Pack” in Switzerland.

I know that Dog Brothers meant all the world for him. He was always enthusiastic when I saw him at seminars and gatherings. He truly loved stickfighting. I know that he was very happy when he got his Candidate DB name.

He died doing what he love the most. He walked as a Warrior for all his days and died as a Stickfighter.

My thoughts are with his family and all the friends he knew.

I talked with Guro Marc “Crafty Dog” and GL Stefan “Cro Dog”, we agreed that we want to do something to help his family monetary. He left behind a wife and 3 kids.

One of the idea is that the Group Leaders who want to help, organize a seminar at their hometown and will donate the proceeds. If you have interest to do such please get in contact with me.

A wonderful laughing, smiling and kind man. Whether you needed someone to dance with, some food or water after a long journey or someone to make you laugh, Abu was always there to lend a hand. We will miss you our friend

My deepest condolences to the Vanda family and friends as well as the Euro clans. It saddens me greatly.

R.I.P. C-Desert Dog

Logged

"A good stickgrappler has good stick skills, good grappling, and good stickgrappling and can keep track of all three simultaneously. This is a good trick and can be quite effective." - Marc "Crafty Dog" Denny

I've struggled for a day to say what I want to in a manner worthy of C-Desert Dog. I did not meet him, but I still have a sense of loss. My heart goes out to his family and friends, and to those on this forum who were both. When we lose a piece of the puzzle, we lose a piece of ourselves. RIP warrior.

I'm sorry to read this. What a shock to have a competitive athlete leave us so mysteriously. Still, it's an ideal way to go. On behalf of myself and my fighting friends in the Baltic-Dog clan, may C-Desert Dog be fighting and drinking in Valhalla.

The autopsy bring out the cause of Abu’s dead. He had a cardiac arrest induced by a congenital heart defect in conjunction with a chronic pulmonary disease and a premeditate flu.

Given above indication, nothing on earth could have rescued him or could have provided any chance to survive.

Torben “C-Old Dog”, Stefan “Cro Dog” and myself had the chance to get in contact with Abu’s widow. It was a good to have the opportunity to give our condolence directly to her. It was also a big relief to hear, that she found it comfortingly to know in what circumstances Abu had to pass away. She was glad to hear that he was surrounded by people he liked and practicing his precious stickfighting.

I was touched by her fortitude.

I was glad to see how big the resonance was and how many people from the DB community gave their condolence.

It was wonderful to see how many people are willing to donate, in order to decrease the financial pressure to the family.

We will get in contact with Abu’s widow by end of march to convey the collected donation.

If you wish to donate please do so until 25. march. You have 2 possibilities:

Woof Lonely Dog, Those photos are a nice tribute to C- Desert Dog, it's difficult times that bring people closer together and although his loss is devastating, his spirit strengthens us all. My condolences to his family, his friends and fellow warriors, may God's shield protect him in all his endless adventures. P.C.

But stickfighting wasn`t the most important thing in his life. His family was...He leaves his widow, two grown sons and his 8 year old daughter.

Today I did a "In memoriam Akram C-Desert Dog Abu-Dayyeh Seminar" here in Munich. His widow was there. too.Most of the Munich dogbrother clan joined the seminar today, Chris "C-Rogue Dog" Smith and his wife were there.

I am still impressed by the strength of his widow. I had the chance to speak to her for a couple of minutes.She said, Abu did everything for his family, now that he his gone she realizes, that she had a life like a princess.His daughter (who shows great promise for tennis) had a tennis tournament last sunday. She said, that she will win it for her father. So she did. She won the tournament...

I started the seminar with a little speech, followed by a minute`s silence.Abu´s widow joined our circle and read a poem Abu wrote a couple of days before his passing. The poem deals with the death...Most of us had to fight back one`s tears.

After that we had a good time (Los Triques), doing what Abu enjoyed so much. The complete earnings of the seminar and donations from the Munich clan went directly to his widow, in order to be a fast help.

The widow got today from the Munich clan 1.070 €!!!

This made me very proud...

The collection goes on, I got already an remarkable amount at the paypal account.

I got to know Abu at the last Gathering....he was "Dog" Abu then. Our fight was the first day - and he was a difficult opponent - he would switch from right to left hand as he was zooming back and forth, so it was tricky to know where his next attack would come from. However, his "style" was not frantic - it fitted him well, and was natural to him.

The next day, as we headed to the gym for the 2nd day of fighting, I said to him "...Abu, I have the feeling that at this Gathering, you will be promoted to Candidate Dog Brother..." He seemed not so sure about that - though he was confident about his fighting, he did not have an overblown opinion of his abilities.

The next day, not only was he promoted, but Guro Crafty singled him out as having developed an interesting and effective personal style. Though I did not know Abu well, I remember him as full of energy, good at what he did, yet humble.

Myself, C-Full Metal, C-Rogue and Abu were considered to be the 'pack jokers'. When one of us would do something funny Abu would shout "xxx du bist super!" We started to do this for my son Dougal when he did something funny.